Living among the greedy
Do they give hazard pay to bird feeders. I don’t mean the mechanical device; rather, the courageous souls that fill seed dispensers, under the watchful eyes of dozens of tiny dinosaurs.
And another point; if a bird feeder falls on the ice, and gets an injury, who comes to assist the injured party? The birds seem rather indifferent to anything except the free food. Would the feeder become a protein supplement for the chronically hungry? Asking for a friend.
I shudder to think about the added risks, should I ever start dispensing suet. I mean, I’m a source of suet, if carved properly. Do birds dig in with talon and beak, under the right conditions? I could just carry the sack outside, set it in plain view and return when refills are necessary. Probably a matter of hours, once the others in the region figure out that there’s no need to extract food from a metal grill. I suspect that the local squirrels would simply form a chain and carry the whole thing off to wherever they hide stuff in the undergrowth. So far, I’ve not seen any additional sunflower patches, but that is another risk. Am I overthinking this? I should start paying attention to the various feeding groups on FB.
Additionally: what about rodents. I mean, apart from the squirrels. Do field mice and other similar tiny vermin still get their share? Are they raiding the squirrel larder, which is what sends the big tailed creatures back into view? Maybe mice are smarter than the others, and avoid attracting attention. So many variables. I had none of this when living in the city.
